We’re going to take a few weeks off–while Stoutcat just had a vacation, both Alan and Gerry definitely need some time off from the heavy political lifting. Also, we’re thinking of some fresh ideas for the blog, and discussing how (and whether!) to implement them.

Unless we do something, and do it soon, there will be a mosque yards away from Ground Zero in New York City, its grand opening slated for September 11, 2011.

Interestingly, it takes a non-American, Pat Condell, to point out to us in his inimitable way that it we’re not careful, our penchant for political correctness will end up facilitating the loss of our entire nation.

Cordoba. Hagia Sophia. Church of St. John the Baptist. Do we really want Ground Zero included that group?

Hoo boy, times sure have changed, haven’t they? Time was, when heads of state went to visit each other, they presented each other with meaningful and symbolic gifts, embodying not just the bounty and artistic abilities of the country bestowing the gifts, but also the importance and significance of the relationship between the visiting leaders countries and their nations leaders.

Possibly the best known gift of this type is the Resolute desk, a gift from Queen Victoria to President Hayes in 1880. Possibly the second-best known is the set of gifts from Prime Minister Gordon Brown to President Obama in 2009, comprising an ornate pen-holder made from the timbers of a British anit-slave ship, and the original commission papers of the HMS Resolute herself.

Possibly the best known failure of this type of gift was President Obama’s gifts in kind to PM Brown, which consisted of a 25-DVD set of American movies (in an incompatible format for playing in England); included for the PM’s two little boys were off-the-shelf models of Marine One.

Which brings me to today. In an act which could be described as poetic justice (or which could truly reflect both the artistic talent available in the UK today as well as a thoughtful gesture in keeping with the recipient’s taste), Prime Minister David Cameron has presented Obama with a painting by local graffiti “artist” Ben Eine. While not as well-known as the American serial plagiarizer who helped propel Obama to the presidency, this boost to his career will no doubt ensure Mr. Eine’s continued success.

In the meantime, Eine’s “Twenty first Century City” could now be keeping company with the Resolute desk in the White House. Revenge or reward? You decide.

Ahhh… the good old days. Remember way back when NASA focused on things like space and didn’t have to concern itself with the self-esteem of any particular religious group? Back when our Presidents understood that NASA’s charter was about exploring “The Final Frontier” and not radical religious alignment? For example: 41 years ago today:

Recently, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (and several confirming sources), stated The White House wants NASA’s focus, moving forward, to be on making sure Muslims are satisfied their contribution to math and science is being appreciated.

Our Tongue-In-Cheek department reports The White House is now trying to deny they ever told Bolden any such thing, but refused to address a rumor that they plan to rename NASA from National Aeronautical and Space Administration to National Association for Sharia Advancement. Their new motto: “That’s one small step for man, and One Big-Ass Mistake for America (O.B.A.M.A.).

What goes around comes around. You reap what you sow. No good deed goes unrewarded. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

That’s pretty much the sum total “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” version of how people should treat each other. While I certainly don’t rejoice in what is described in the article below, I can’t help but wonder if the cosmic scales are sometimes adjusted in ways that even we mere mortals can understand and should heed:

Police say Jason Green was shot in the face near the Greenhouse club Sunday morning. There have been no arrests.

Green and fellow EMT Melisa Jackson had been under criminal investigation for their handling of a distressed woman at a Brooklyn bakery Dec. 9. They were in line at the bakery when 25-year-old Eutisha Rennix collapsed.

Witnesses say the EMTs told workers to call 911 and left without helping the woman, whose prematurely born baby also died…

I would only point out that, although the Billboard is a display of satire, please don’t become complacent regarding the significance of this mid-term election. It’s one of the most important and decisive elections this country has ever faced: America is under attack from within. We’ve seen the evidence mounting:

After only days in office, President Obama and the Democratic Congress (backed by a few traitor Repubicrats) teamed up to ram through Congress and sign a stimulus package we were told had to be done immediately in order to cap unemployment at 8.5%. The bill was never posted for the 5 days Obama assured the American public (during the Presidential Campaign) on the Internet for us to read before he signed it. To date, unemployment has gone as high as 10% (much higher in areas of the country) and currently sits at about 9.5%. It was recently reported that only about 1/3 of the money has been spent, yet the lame duck congress (after the election and before the new congressmen take their seats in January 2011) is expected to pass yet another stimulus package. Many think Obama is using this money as a slush fund to buy support from legislators.

Barack Obama and Congress teamed up to shove health care reform down our throats, against the will of the majority of Americans. In doing so, the government has taken control of over 1/6th of our economy in one fell swoop. Implementation begins with new steep taxes in 2011, but actual benefits will not be provided to the masses until 2019.

In a stunnng accusation, former Department of Justice employee J. Christian Adams details how the Department of Justice (under Obama appointee, Eric Holder) is racially biased against whites claiming that Holder was told by officials in the Obama administration to back off prosecutions of blacks who commit crimes against whites, but aggressively prosecute cases where white(s) allegedly have committed crimes against blacks. A black elected official in Noxubee agreed, during a deposition, that racially discriminatory behavior against whites occurred. “But you got to understand,” he explained, “now it’s payback time.”

No, what we need to understand is that we have a chance in November to START turning America’s ship back to a democracy. But we can only do it if everyone legally eligible to vote exercises that right.

Well, just the fact that it was written by Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, and Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank should have you running, screaming towards the Canadian border. I find the irony rather horrific: one of the chief proponents of Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac (the two programs that are chiefly responsible for the economic mess we’re in regards to banking) is one of the architects of the legislation to get us OUT of the trouble he caused. Think about that: If you had to trade your car in because the mechanic at your dealer ruined your engine, would you turn to that same mechanic to write the service manual for your new car?

As to the impact, in some minor areas, we gain, but as is always the case when government gets involved, it’s gonna cost you at the other end… Translation: Break out the KY Jelly, folks. Try to minimize the pain.

The legislation took well over a year to develop, and it wound up taking slightly over 2,300 pages to contain it. But NOT TO WORRY! I’m sure His Sly-ness, the Omnipotent Lord Obama will give us 72 hours to look at it on-line before signing it into law, just like he did with the stimul… uh, woops. Never mind… “Nothing to see here, folks. Just keep moving, please.”

If I may, here’s a highly condensed version of some of what you’ll find buried in this legislation:

1.) The legislation creates an agency that can seize and liquidate any bank (including those considered “too big to fail”).

The Good News: We shouldn’t get stuck paying to bail out banks for their failures as George Bush had us do.The Bad News: It does NOT, however, control just how big a bank can grow. Recipe for disaster? Guess we’ll have to wait to find out. You know, like Nancy Pelosi’s take on health care: “We have to pass it to find out what’s in it!”The REALLY Bad News: Hello? The government now has permission to seize any bank (and its assets) at any time, based on the whim of… the government. Translation: More power taken away from the people and given to the government (who wrote this legislation again? Hugo Chavez?)

2.) A new federal agency (under the banner of the Federal Reserve) that will impose more regulatory control over credit card companies, payday advance companies and mortgage companies.

The Good News: Perhaps more restrictions on the types and amounts of fees they can gouge customers with. Pre-payment penalties will likely be eliminated or greatly reduced on certain types of loans and mortgages.

The Bad News: Those fees are where these institutions make much of their profit. While the government presents these regulations as “consumer protection, ” that translates into “less profit” for these entities which, ultimately, means more restrictions on their service to you. Look for new fees on other services to make up the difference, harder to obtain credit cards, harder to qualify for mortgages and more restrictions on availability of payday advances… Yeah, that ought to help the economy recover. If you’re in the construction industry, plan on selling a lot fewer houses. A LOT fewer.

The REALLY Bad News: With new regulations on mortgage companies, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize mortgage money will be much harder to qualify for. With a plethora of unsold homes in foreclosure already flooding the market, that could keep the housing market depressed for years. Couple this with an economy that’s already on life-support and a job market that is – well, for lack of a better term – flat-lining, in most parts of the country, and we could actually see a society where we could have millions of homeless people living on the streets and hundreds of thousands of empty homes sitting in foreclosure. If and when that happens, how long before the government will write (and pass) legislation allowing the government to seize homes that are sitting empty and redistribute the right to live there.

Who would have thought the pompous idiots who helped the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac debacle trash our economy could come up with something even more foreboding for the future? Way to go Barney and Chris! Would you like to inject us directly with poison next?

3.) The new legislation requires more transparency in the derivatives market.

The Good News: None we can actually measure. Not until the “bad” news is resolved (which the government has absolutely no incentive to do)..

The Bad News: Fill in your own sarcastic comment here about “transparency,” especially if it’s going to work the same way it has with the Obama administration. And it probably will, because they have apparently left it up to Bill Clinton to ask for the definition of “transparency.”

4.) New limits on how much Banks can charge retail businesses when customers use debit cards for purchases and how much they can charge for overdrafts.

The Good News: If you’re a business owner, this means less cost to you when a customer swipes a debit card to make a purchase. So this means the businesses will pass those savings on to us, right? Nope. Not necessarily. Nothing requires businesses to do so.

For those of us who live paycheck to paycheck and occasionally overdraft our account, banks will be forced to reduce the penalty for doing so, meaning they would be limited to how much they can gouge you when they (as comedian Gallagher would say), “charge you more of what they already know you don’t have any of.”

The Bad News: Under the old laws, businesses were required to allow you to use your debit card for ALL purchases, no matter how small. Under the Financial Reform legislation, that restriction is lifted. Look for retailers to jump on the bandwagon of having minimum amounts for purchases using debit cards. You may have to forget about buying that McDouble using the debit card. The consumer’s new credo: “Cash: Don’t leave home without it.” Look for armed robberies to increase as a result.

Even MORE Bad News: With banks making less money per transaction with retailers, reduced fees for overdrafts and other fees, look for them to make it up elsewhere. This could mean buh-bye to that free-checking or, perhaps, more or higher fees for using that debit card to obtain cash at the ATM. Where banks are concerned, you may want to keep that KY Jelly handy. If they can’t screw you one way, they’ll screw you another. And, from what I’ve seen, this 2,319 page legislation isn’t going to do a thing to end that.

Here’s a couple of videos that show various aspects of the legislation:
A) The Good

C) The Ugly: A Paul Shanklin tribute to the man who helped create the banking debacle, and then in true “End of days” fashion, has co-authored the legislation that’s supposed to resolve the very problem he helped create.